Interface for 5.1 editing

[tklaavo]

Hello

We are figuring out a new room for post production, which would be used for sound editing / sound design purposes. PT Ultimate, trashcan Mac Pro, etc.

I'm trying to decide on the interface. What we need is outputs for 5.1 monitoring, a couple of decent mic pre's for occassional recording needs, and a headphone jack. That's basically it. No need for anything more complicated (= more expensive)

I have considered RME Fireface UC/UCX and Apogee/Avid Quartet.

I read that RME is stable and good in many ways, but the Totalmix app seems a bit complicated for this setup, where we do not need low latency input monitoring, onboard effects etc. Can it be skipped so that there's just outputs and inputs without another layer of processing?

The Quartet - Discontinued by Avid, but as a class-compliant device it should just keep working, shouldn't it?

Audio quality should be more than adequate in both of these - most important thing here is stability and ease of use.

Any other recommendations are welcome as well! Thanks.